BARRY FITZGERALD
Information from IMDb
Date of Birth
10 March 1888,
Dublin, Ireland
Date of Death
14 January 1961,
Dublin, Ireland (heart attack)
Birth Name
William Joseph Shields
Height
5' 4" (1.63 m)
Trivia
Brother of actor Arthur Shields, with whom he performed in several films, most notably John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952).
One of the very few character actors ever to achieve star status.
Fitzgerald was the only player ever nominated for the Academy Award for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the same year for the same role. The recognition was for Going My Way (1944). After he received this double nomination, the Academy immediately changed their rules to prevent this from happening again, rules which have remained unchanged to this day.
Despite his penchant for portraying priests, Fitzgerald (born William Shields) was a Protestant (and a nationalist), whose brother Arthur Shields was a republican during the upheaval of the early 20th century in Ireland.
The slight, small Fitzgerald was frequently cast alongside huge hulks like John Wayne or Victor McLaglen (most notably in John Ford films), making for a good sight gag as he behaved fearlessly.
Broke the head off his 'Best Supporting Actor' Oscar (Going My Way (1944)) practicing his golf swing.
He is one of the elite ten thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Cate Blanchett, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx. Fitzgerald is the only of the actors to be nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie.
(4/5/54) Radio: Starred in "Radio Theater" episode "Welcome Stranger" with Cary Grant and Pat Crowley.
Mini Biography
One of Hollywood's finest character actors and most accomplished scene stealers, Barry Fitzgerald was born William Joseph Shields in 1888 in Dublin, Ireland. Educated to enter the banking business, the diminutive Irishman with the irresistible brogue was bitten by the acting bug in the 1920s and joined Dublin's world-famous Abbey Players. He subsequently starred in the Abbey Theatre production of Sean O'Casey's Juno And The Paycock, a role that he recreated in his film debut for director Alfred Hitchcock in 1930. He was coaxed to the U.S. in 1935 by John Ford to appear in Ford's film adaptation of another O'Casey masterpiece, The Plough and the Stars (1936). Fitzgerald took up residence in Hollywood and went on to give outstanding performances in such films as The Long Voyage Home (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), None But the Lonely Heart (1944), And Then There Were None (1945), Two Years Before the Mast (1946) and what is probably the role for which he is most fondly remembered, The Quiet Man (1952). He won the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of gruff, aging Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way (1944). He was also nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for the same role and was the only actor to ever be so honored. Barry Fitzgerald died in his beloved Dublin in 1961.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom McDonough
Personal Quotes
A golf course is nothing but a pool room moved outdoors.
Filmography
Actor
1959 Broth of a Boy...Patrick Farrell
1958 Rooney...Grandfather
1956 Wedding Breakfast...Uncle Jack Conlon
1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series)– Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid (1955) … Harold 'Stretch' Sears
1954 General Electric Theater (TV series)– The White Steed (1954)
1954 Happy Ever After...Thady O'Heggarty
1952 Lux Video Theatre (TV series)– The Man Who Struck It Rich (1952) … Barry Flynn
1952 The Quiet Man...Michaleen Oge Flynn
1952 Ha da venì... don Calogero!...Don Calogero
1951 High Vermilion...R.R. Jarboe
1950 The Ford Theatre Hour (TV series)– The White-Headed Boy (1950)
1950 Union Station...Inspector Donnelly
1949 Pride of Kentucky...Shawn O'Hara
1949 Top o' the Morning...Sergeant Briany McNaughton
1948 Miss Tatlock's Millions...Denno Noonan
1948 The Sainted Sisters...Robbie McCleary
1948 The Naked City...Det. Lt. Dan Muldoon
1947 Welcome Stranger...Dr. Joseph McRory
1947 Easy Come, Easy Go...Martin L. Donovan
1947 California...Michael Fabian
1946 Two Years Before the Mast...Terence O'Feenaghty
1945 The Stork Club...Jerry B. 'J.B.'/'Pop' Bates
1945 And Then There Were None..Judge Francis J. Quinncannon
1945 Duffy's Tavern...Bing Crosby's Father
1945 Incendiary Blonde...Michael 'Mike' Guinan
1944 None But the Lonely Heart...Henry Twite
1944 I Love a Soldier...Murphy
1944 Going My Way...Father Fitzgibbon
1943 The Nelson Touch...Stooky O'Meara
1943 Two Tickets to London...Capt. McCardle
1943 The Amazing Mrs. Holliday...Timothy Blake
1941 Tarzan's Secret Treasure...O'Doul
1941 How Green Was My Valley...Cyfartha
1941 The Sea Wolf...Cooky
1940 San Francisco Docks...The Icky
1940 The Long Voyage Home...Cocky
1939 Full Confession...Michael O'Keefe
1939 The Saint Strikes Back...Zipper Dyson
1939 Pacific Liner...Britches
1938 The Dawn Patrol...Bott
1938 Marie Antoinette...Peddler (uncredited)
1938 Four Men and a Prayer...Trooper Mulcahay
1938 Bringing Up Baby...Mr. Gogarty
1937 Ebb Tide...Huish
1936 The Plough and the Stars...Fluther Good
1935 Guests of the Nation...Captured British soldier
1929 Juno and the Paycock...The Orator
1924 Land of Her Fathers
